John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, PC

Privy Council of England

The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...

, FRS (25 April 1655 – 10 July 1700), known as Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, from 1675 to 1696, was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 politician.

He was born at Hackthorpe Hall, Lowther, Westmoreland,the son of Colonel John Lowther of Lowther and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Bellingham, Bart, of Hilsington, Westmoreland.He was educated at Kendal Grammar School and Sedbergh School before admission to Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1670). He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1671 and called to the Bar in 1677.

On 3 December 1674, he married Lady Katherine Thynne (d. bef. 1713), daughter of Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, 1st Baronet. They had children:

• Richard Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lonsdale
  Richard Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lonsdale
  Richard Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lonsdale was an English nobleman, the eldest son of John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale and Katherine Thynne....
  
   (d. 1713)
• Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale
  Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale
  Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale PC FRS was an English courtier and landowner.He succeeded to the Viscountcy in 1713, upon the death of his elder brother, Richard Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lonsdale...
  
   (d. 1751)
• Hon. Mary Lowther (c.1676 – 16 April 1706), married in February 1692 Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet
• Hon. Elizabeth Lowther, married on 6 August 1695 Sir William Ramsden, 2nd Baronet
• Hon. Margaret Lowther (d. 15 September 1728), married on 20 April 1706 Sir Joseph Pennington, 2nd Baronet
• Hon. Barbara Lowther (d. 1716), married c.1703 Thomas Howard of Corby (d. 1740)
• Hon. Anthony Lowther (d. 1741)
• Hon. Jane Lowther (d. 1752), unmarried

Prior to his creation as a viscount in 1696 John had succeeded his grandfather, another Sir John Lowther

Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Lowther

Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet was an English landowner, and politician who sat in the House of Commons for Westmorland in 1628 and in 1660. Member of an old Northern family, he took no great part in the English Civil Wars....

 (1605-1675), as a baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

, and was twice member of parliament for Westmorland

Westmorland (UK Parliament constituency)

Westmorland was a constituency covering the county of Westmorland in the North of England, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The constituency had two separate periods of existence....

 between 1677 and 1696. In 1688 he was serviceable in securing Cumberland and Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

 for King William III

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

, and was appointed to the Privy Council

Privy Council of England

The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...

 in 1689. In 1690 he was first lord of the treasury, and he was Lord Privy Seal

Lord Privy Seal

The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...

 from March 1699 until his death. He was badly injured in a duel in 1691.

On 20 December 1699, he was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society.His candidacy citation noted that he was "A Gentleman who is well acquainted with many of the works of Nature and Art, & who hath lately obliged the Society with Some Curious Experiments relating to the damps of Coal Mines",

He died at Lowther in 1700 and was buried in Lowther churchyard.

Lonsdale wrote Memoirs of the Reign of James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, which were printed in 1808 and again in 1857. His family became extinct when his son Henry, the 3rd viscount (1694–1751), died unmarried in March 1751.